footwear Footwear refers to garments worn on the feet, which typically serve the purpose of protective clothing, protection against adversities of the environment such as wear from rough ground; stability on slippery ground; and temperature. *Shoes and si ...

, a hobnail is a short nail with a thick head used to increase the durability of

boot A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearl ...

soles or provide traction.

History

Hobnailed boots (in Scotland "tackety boots") are boots with hobnails (nails inserted into the soles of the boots), usually installed in a regular pattern, over the sole. They usually have an iron

horseshoe-shaped Many shapes have metaphorical names, i.e., their names are metaphors: these shapes are named after a most common object that has it. For example, "U-shape" is a shape that resembles the letter U, a bell-shaped curve has the shape of the vertical ...

insert, called a heel iron, to strengthen the heel, and an iron toe-piece. They may also have steel toecaps. The hobnails project below the sole and provide traction on soft or rocky terrain and snow, but they tend to slide on smooth, hard surfaces. They have been used since antiquity for inexpensive durable footwear, often by workmen and the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

. Examples include the ''

caligae ''Caligae'' (Latin; : ) are heavy-soled hobnailed military sandal-boots that were worn as standard issue by Roman legionary foot-soldiers and auxiliaries, including cavalry. History ''Caligae'' (: ''caliga'') are heavy-duty, thick-soled ...

'' of the Roman military, the " ammo boot" in use by the British and Commonwealth armies from the 1860s and the US Army "

trench boot The trench boot, sometimes known as the "Pershing boot," was an American combat boot used in the latter stages of World War I, made for the cold mud of trench warfare. Introduction The 1917 Trench Boot was an adaptation of the boots American m ...

s" of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Important design work for the modern hobnailed boot was done during

, e.g. the "

Pershing boot The trench boot, sometimes known as the "Pershing boot," was an American combat boot used in the latter stages of World War I, made for the cold mud of trench warfare. Introduction The 1917 Trench Boot was an adaptation of the boots American ma ...

" in the United States. Problems experienced in designing WWI US Army boots were: *Tearing at the backstay: solved by securing the backstay with three rows of stitching each side. *Letting water in: solved by dubbin. *Rotting in foul conditions in trenches: solved by

chrome tanning Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...

rather than using vegetable tanning. *Cold conducting through hobnails into the feet: that, and need for strength, solved by three thicknesses of leather in the soles. *Sole wear: toe and heel irons in addition to hobnails.

Uses

Hobnailed boots were formerly common in

mountaineering Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...

to grip on sloping rock surfaces. These boots tended to have large pointed hobnails on the extreme edges of the soles and heels to grip small roughness on steeply sloping rock and on snow, but have become less common with the invention of

crampons A crampon is a traction device attached to footwear to improve mobility on snow and ice during ice climbing. Besides ice climbing, crampons are also used for secure travel on snow and ice, such as crossing glaciers, snowfields and icefields, as ...

. Homemade hobnailed boots, which provide traction on ice and snow, can be created by driving roofing nails (with cut-off ends) through used rubber boots, which are then worn with normal shoes on the inside. A form of hobnailed boots were used by the British Royal Air Force for both ground staff and some aircrew, from the 1920s until just after the end of World War II.

References

External links

*Chambers, William (1904)
"Hobnail".
''Chambers's

Etymological Dictionary An etymological dictionary discusses the etymology of the words listed. Often, large dictionaries, such as the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' and ''Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Webster's'', will contain some etymological informat ...

of the English Language'', W. & R. Chambers, p. 231. Archived at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

. *Chambers, William (1904)
"Stud"
''Chambers's Etymological Dictionary of the English Language'', W. & R. Chambers, p. 497. Archived at Google Books. Footwear components Shoemaking {{Clothing-stub

History

Uses

See also

References

External links